Female nurses' perceptions of physical exercise and fitness

Abstract

The study was conducted to explore female nurses' perceptions of physical exercise and fitness. Worldwide, different studies were conducted to investigate the benefits of participating in regular exercise and achieving a good level of physical fitness. These studies evidenced that the exhilaration and emotional release of participating in sports and physical exercise is a boost to mental and physical health, thus highlighting the importance of incorporating physical exercise and fitness to the nursing field. A descriptive, non-experimental approach was used for this study. This was achieved by means of the nominal group technique (NGT) which consisted of using ten female nurses (n=l 0) to generate ideas and discuss issues on the topics 'physical exercise' and 'fitness'. Random sampling was used. The discussion was transcribed and qualitative analyses of the data were undertaken. This study dealt with the female nurses' understanding of physical exercise and fitness, their own participation in physical exercise, their role as physical exercise and fitness promoters, and factors which impeded them from participating in regular physical exercise or sports activities. A number of recommendations based on the findings of the study were listed, such as inviting exercise and fitness professionals to give teaching sessions to nurses in order to make them competent in discussing and promoting the subject to patients, relatives and the community in general.